Bulgaria: consumer loans get cheaper – average rate 8.83% in September
Mortgage rates also edged down to 2.41%, central bank data show. New housing loans increased, while new consumer lending declined.
Symbolic image · Photo: Ivanov id / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5 (cropped and resized)
The average interest rate on new consumer loans in Bulgaria fell 0.08 percentage points to 8.83% in September, according to Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) data reported by the BTA news agency. The annual percentage rate of charge on these loans declined to 9.11%. The volume of new consumer loans shrank 3.2% from August to 627.3 million euros, while renegotiated and refinanced loans rose 21.7% to 126.9 million euros.
For housing loans, the average rate edged down to 2.41% and the annual percentage rate to 2.76%. New mortgage lending rose 3.5% to 643.6 million euros, exceeding the volume of new consumer loans in September. Banks charged an average of 21.52% on credit card debt outside the interest-free period and 13.52% on consumer overdrafts.
The picture for companies was mixed: the rate on loans of up to 1 million euros fell to 4.25%, while the rate on larger loans rose 0.30 points to 4.66%. New large corporate lending grew 10.6% to 691.6 million euros. Household time deposits continue to pay little – an average of 1.42%, and 0.01% for overnight deposits.